PetroChem Wire: PP pellet prices drop in November

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

PP pellet prices dropped in November, while regrind and scrap were steady. The steep drops in upstream monomer and prime grade polypropylene prices in October found their way into the polypropylene repro market this past month.

Homopolymer PP pellets fell to the low 60s cents-per-pound level FOB U.S. East Coast, and copolymer PP pellets eased to the 64-66 cents per pound range. November PP regrind prices were steady in the 40 cents-per-pound range.

PP post-industrial scrap remained extremely difficult to source. This scrap shortage is a worldwide situation and as a result, U.S. polypropylene repro producers have been competing locally with international companies for U.S. scrap all year. With prime grade production efficiency improvements not expected to change, the tight scrap situation looms over the 2012 recycled PP market.

In the prime PP market, spot prices declined nearly 20 cents-per-pound in October, but managed to rebound by 4 cents-per-pound in November.

For more information about PetroChem Wire's Repro/Regrind Resin Report and daily prime grade polymers and monomers report, or to arrange a free trial subscription, contact Cindy Bryan at cindy@petrochemwire.com.

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